Crown of Steel (Chaos Awakens) (8 page)

Kassa spoke up hesitantly. "Is she talking about Xandrith?"

Haley was about to respond, but the queen interjected quickly. "Xandrith. Here passed the shadow. Here passed death."

Haley's heart nearly skipped a beat. "Are you saying Xan is alive, and that he's near here?"

The queen pointed along the edge of the mountains in what appeared to be an easterly direction. "Here passed the shadow. Bring the shadow light." As her words ended a sharp gust of wind kicked up and threw massive amounts of snow into the air. The world vanished in a rush of white for a moment. When it cleared, the queen was gone. Not even her footprints remained. Kassa and Haley stood alone in the bitter cold shadow of the great mountains, the Ragged. Their guide had vanished, leaving them with little more to follow than a cryptic message that they were to search for a friend they thought was dead. Still, Haley felt more alive than she had in ages. Hope had rekindled in her heart, and so she began to walk east.

"Where are you going?" Kassa asked, falling in at her back. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

Haley shrugged. "I'm going after Xan."

"For all we know we might have misunderstood the queen. We don't know that Xandrith is really out there." Kassa’s voice was tight and accented by the slight shivering that was causing her jaw to rattle.

"Xan is too much of a bastard to die." Haley said confidently. "Do you really think he'd die with unfinished business? He's an assassin. He always gets the job done." Hope. It would have been so easy to fall into despair at their situation, but Xandrith wouldn't have wanted that.

Kassa trudged forward, walking up beside Haley. She was quiet for a few moments, but finally she spoke. "He is one hell-of-a bastard."

They trudged on in silence for a time, but it wasn't long before Kassa's skin began to take on an unhealthy blue tinge and her shivering became almost violent. Haley wasn't sure what to do for the other woman. Other than the weapons they had strapped to their hips and the clothes on their backs, they didn't really have supplies. Haley stopped in her tracks.

"The masks!" She said with a sudden realization. Kassa just looked at her numbly, the blanket with the valuable masks slung over her shoulder with indifference. "If we put the masks on, you can use the blanket to try and keep warm." Haley explained. Realization settled on Kassa's face, and in a moment she was working at the knot in the blanket where the ends were tied together. Her fingers moved stiffly in the cold, and after a few seconds of watching her struggle Haley took the blanket from her and untied the knot herself. Her fingers weren't suffering the effects of the chill nearly as badly. The blanket came open and even before Haley could remove the two boxes within Kassa had tossed them to the ground and wrapped herself in the newly liberated blanket. It wasn't a winter weight blanket, but it was far warmer than the light shirt she'd been wearing. Kassa managed to wrap it entirely around herself twice, using part of it to create a hood. She was still shivering badly.

Haley was looking to the boxes that had been haphazardly tossed on the ground. Each box was of plain wooden construction with a single word etched across the front. One said ‘wolf’ and the other said ‘fox.’ Her hands sought out the container with the word ‘fox’ on the front, and she removed the lid carefully. The inside of the box was lined with a fabric that was so soft on her fingers it felt as though she couldn't even tell it was made of individual threads. Sitting in the middle of the pile of cloth was what looked like a hand carved animal mask in the guise of a fox.

The mask had clearly been designed to cover the entire face. It even seemed to have some kind of mechanism built in to allow the jaw to move freely, though it was quite difficult to determine exactly how it all worked. The structure was made of some type of wood, but the styling was very lifelike. Haley picked it up and turned it over. The inside looked as though it had been layered in the same soft fabric that lay inside the box. The edges of the mask would wrap all the way around her ears, but there was no clear indication of how it would all fasten on the back of her head. Out of curiosity Haley pushed the mask to her face so she could get an idea of what it would be like to wear it.

Haley gave a sharp shriek as the mask seemed to grab hold of her face and pull itself against her skin. It moved of its own accord, seeming to shift, stretch, and twist against her flesh. For a moment she struggled to try and pull it free to no avail.

"What's wrong?" Kassa called, moving around Haley to get a better angle on what the younger woman was doing.

"The mask just grabbed me!" Haley shouted, but her panic was quickly dwindling. Shawl wouldn't have given them anything that would hurt them. She knew that. Still, that had been a shock. "I'm alright. It just scared me." She explained as rationality took over. As her fear fled, it was replaced by a sense of wonder. She knew she was wearing the mask, but it didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable. After its initial adjusting it seemed to fit perfectly, and when she spoke, the bottom jaw on the mask moved with her face as though they were one.

"Wow, that mask is amazing." Kassa said, her voice still shaking badly despite the added protection of the blanket. "I can see all the expressions of your face through it. If I didn't know better, I might think you really were a fox dressed up like a human."

Haley smiled and pointed to the other box. "You get to be the wolf. I'd recommend putting it on. It seems to keep the wind off your face."

With that endorsement Kassa was clawing into the box in no time. She picked up the mask and slid it onto her face. Despite Haley's warning that the initial moments of putting on the mask were strange, Kassa gave a little gasp as the mask adjusted to her features. Haley wanted to see what her own face looked like beneath the mask, but seeing Kassa would have to be good enough. The wolf mask gave the woman a fierce and canine scowl, yet it also seemed to reflect Kassa's facial expressions as well. Beneath the wolfish features was the look of amused wonderment that Kassa no doubt had on her face.

"How do I look?" She asked with a grin.

"Like a grinning wolf." Haley replied. "It's a little unnerving."

"Well, at least my nose isn't freezing anymore." Kassa sighed. "Let's get going. I'm not sure how much longer I can survive out here."

Haley gave a single nod for a reply and then they set off looking for some place to take shelter and get warmed up. As they traveled Haley gathered the makings of a fire. The terrain was mostly treeless and rocky, but there was some occasional foliage and she took what she could find and carried it along with them. They would need every scrap of wood they could gather if they were going to burn a fire long enough to make a difference.

It had been a long time since Haley had been so cold. The last time was when Xandrith had come for her, appearing out of nowhere like a ghost in the woods. He had come with his half loaded smile and his hands raised as though that made him less dangerous, and the moment she'd seen him Haley had known that he wasn't like other men. He hadn’t seemed real then. He was strong and determined, and his eyes were filled with a compassion that he would never admit to having. When Haley had been at her lowest point, Xan had effortlessly lifted her and carried her against his chest, holding her safely sheltered from the world. She'd felt so safe with him. He'd been warm, solid, masculine, and caring. It had been that moment when she'd really started to feel her attachment to the assassin.

All the while she'd traveled with him he'd remained cloaked in an otherworldly nature. Haley knew that he was just a mortal man like so many others, but it was as though Xandrith didn't know that about himself. No one had ever told Xandrith that some things were impossible, and so he lived his life as though nothing was. Haley had seen that in him, and she'd immediately wanted to learn to live the same way. Besides, he was kind of roguishly good looking in his own way, and he didn't flinch away every time he saw Haley's face.

Haley found herself blushing despite the frigid cold. What was she even thinking? Xandrith was old enough to be her father, and he was a killer, an assassin, and her tutor. Besides, he had Kassa. Haley wasn't exactly certain what existed between her mentor and the woman he cared for, but it seemed like more than a simple friendship. Xandrith had given up everything and risked his very life in order to bring Kassa back from the brink of death. He'd even given her a piece of himself. He'd left Haley behind so that he could save Kassa, and no matter how many times Haley tried to justify that to herself it still hurt.

Haley wasn't angry with Xan for saving Kassa, but she was madly jealous of the other woman even if she would never admit to that fact outside of her thoughts. Haley had gone out of her way to be friendly and to treat Kassa the way she knew Xan would want her to, but sometimes the older woman infuriated her. Kassa had all of Xan's skills and she'd never had to work for them, and she'd obviously been the most important person to the assassin. It wasn't fair. Haley had worked hard to get as good as she was, and she wasn't even close to Kassa's proficiency in fighting. Kassa was given Xandrith's last moments and affection, but she professed to only think of the man as her friend. If Xandrith had chosen her instead, Haley wouldn't have been afraid to say that she loved him. But he hadn't chosen her. He'd left her behind and chosen to save Kassa, and why wouldn't he? She wasn't burned and deformed, and she wasn’t just a child in his eyes. Kassa hadn't been broken and abused by a hateful man, spoiled so that no other would ever love her. Haley could accept that she wasn't desirable as a woman.

It hadn't been easy, but she'd finally convinced herself that she didn't need to be Xandrith's love. She would be happy just being his apprentice. She would make the assassin proud of her. Even if he couldn't love her, he would respect her. When they finally found Xandrith - and they would find him, of this Haley was certain - he would be amazed at how far she'd come in her training even without his help. Haley was already physically more powerful than Kassa, and she was trying desperately to master the combat forms she knew. It wasn't as easy as simply memorizing them, she had to train her body to accept the forms as natural movement. Her muscles needed to know how to use them even if her mind wasn't completely clear. The trick to mastering combat was to teach her body to fight and her mind to strategize. If her mind had to do the fighting, then her technique would be slow and forced. The body needed to know its own way and only take cues from the mind.

Haley was determined to become as skilled as Xandrith. If she couldn't be loved by him, she would at least have his respect and friendship. Someday she would be the one to save him from the cold and the dark. On that day she would finally feel that her training had all been worth the effort.

They walked for nearly another hour before luck finally did them a favor. They found a small traveler's shack near the entrance to a cave in the mountainside. The cave was probably some type of mine, and the shack was probably a temporary cabin for when whoever worked the mine was on site. To Haley's relief the single roomed shack was empty and there was already a small pile of wood stacked at the ready outside. By the time they reached the shelter Kassa was shivering fiercely and her speech was becoming somewhat incoherent. The last thing Haley wanted to do was handle all the camp arrangements for the day by herself, but there was little choice. Kassa was in no condition to do anything.

Haley led the older woman inside and sat her down in front of the fireplace before setting to work on getting a fire going. It didn't take her long since the cabin was well stocked. There were even cooking supplies, trapping gear, and some basic travel equipment. Unfortunately, other than a few long-life spices there was nothing to actually eat. Still they weren't starving yet, and having a fire and some shelter from the wind was better than nothing. Haley set the fire roaring and then went about preparing a warm tea from some herbs she’d identified amongst the supplies in the cabin. The tea wouldn't exactly be filling, but it would help warm them both from the inside.

Kassa sat numbly in front of the fire, shivering fiercely. Haley located some fur blankets and threw them over her shoulders before returning to her efforts to scavenge the hut. The people working the mine wouldn't be happy to come back and find their camp ransacked, but there was no way Haley and Kassa were leaving without taking everything that they could use on their journey. They didn't even have travel packs with them. It was a good thing they'd gotten out of Johndin's house with the masks and their weapons. Xan would have probably remembered to grab their packs before leaving, he never went anywhere without his. He was stubbornly attached to his gear.

"I should be the one taking care of you.” Kassa said, breaking the silence that had settled heavily upon the empty cabin.

Haley looked over at the older woman and frowned at the thought. “Just because I'm young doesn't mean I can't take care of myself, and you if I need to. I'm not a little girl.” Her reply came off more prickly than she'd meant it.

"Whether you know it or not, you are still a little girl Haley. Maybe in some backwards places you'd be getting married and starting a family soon, but the truth is you're still young and you're missing out on your youth because of all of this.” Kassa said with a sigh.

Haley’s frown deepened and she knew her tongue was going to go places it shouldn't. It had a mind of its own. “I'm not missing out on anything. This is what I want out of my life. You know what I don't want? I don't want people feeling sorry for me. I'm not the same little girl that cried while her family was murdered and laid helpless while she was abused and tortured. I'm not that girl anymore. I'm strong, and I can take care of myself. So stop feeling sorry for me.”

Kassa seemed taken aback. “I don't feel sorry for you, I just ...” She seemed uncertain what to say next. Haley would have been just as happy to let the conversation end there.” Listen Not Daisy, I ...”